Shoes of the Day: Di Bianco's Wingtip

We talk a lot about shoes on The Style Blog. Fact is, we think about them even more than we talk about them and, chances are, if you're reading this, you think about them quite frequently yourself. After visiting yesterday with Bill White — the man behind Di Bianco shoes — we're pretty well convinced he thinks about shoes more than all of us. Combined.

These particular shoes, hand-made and burnished in Italy at a fourth-generation factory, have all the bells and whistles expected of super-high-end Italian footwear: elegant profiles, interesting details, and non-traditional colors. But where White really excels is in the sole. His line features shoes that utilize Blake construction (where the last is attached directly to the sole), Goodyear Welt construction (the last and insole are constructed as a unit, then the outsole is attached), and Norwegian welt (a beefed-up version of the Goodyear). But unlike other companies, White's soles are typically rubberized, like the Dainite sole (pictured below) on this dark-green beauty of a wingtip. While partial- and full-leather soles are certainly available, Di Bianco's shoes treat the rubber as an integral part of the design, stacking it into the heal, for example, which make the shoes a subtle standout. We're not saying no one else does this kind of thing, but if they do, it's usually at a price point of $200 to $300 higher.

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